Hell's Power Outage
by NOHK
Summary: New Hell, ever since from the beginning, has been suffering from power problems. That's the main reason why Keima's past conquers have bits of memories of their conquest. A fanfic designed from a "What if" question, what if Hell's power ran out? What if from this power outage, memories return?
1. Chapter 0: Prologue

_This fanfiction is based on __**Tamiki Wakaki-san**__'s __**The World God Only Knows**_**. **_Franchise ain't mine, y'hear? Er, y'read? XD_

* * *

**Hell's Power Outage**

**_Chapter 0: Prologue _**

_It was all over…_

_..._

_ Vintage was completely obliterated…_

_..._

_ The present is now a world that God only knows…_

_..._

_At that, we find ourselves in a familiar setting._

_..._

"Uu~, Kami-sama, come out of there! It's 1 in the morning, and you haven't eaten for three days straight!"

A familiar voice echoed all over the Katsuragi household.

It was Elsie knocking on the door of the room her buddy was in for quite a long time now.

"Kami-sama! Kami-niisama! Nii-sa—"

The door creaked open slowly. As the dark room shone, Elsie's eyes widened from shock. Her buddy is on the ground face-down in front of her.

"Nii-sama!"

"L…-L…-Love Tears… finish… again… what's with… me…"

"NII-SAMA!"

Her buddy fell unconscious.

_Keima Katsuragi, the 17-year-old self-proclaimed "God of Conquests" was that buddy. He wasn't like this before. Normally, for him, he would immerse himself into his world of galges__[1]__. He'd lock himself up in his room for days, even weeks, just for the sake of completing those games. He claims that his games are "the only bodily nutrients he needs." That phrase failed him about two times, the third one being right now. Some people would say he's baby-faced, but some say because of that, he's considered a good-looking teenager. One might say, "If only he wasn't such a game addict, he would've been such a suitable partner."_

Going back to the current matter, he still lies unconscious. Elsie doesn't know what to do. As she flails around panicking, she trips on a wire, and her buxom body lands on a game's CD, eventually breaking it. Her broom, on the other hand, takes out half of Keima's game console area, creating a hole in the room. At the sound of the ruckus, Keima stood up in reaction to the sound as if nothing happened to him.

"Elsie, what the hell…-"

Seeing the damage the klutzy demon did to his room, Keima shouted at the top of his lungs.

"MY GAAAAMESSSS!"

"You freaking bug demon! You never do things right… Oh, NOOO! You even broke One Leaf! *sniff* Yokkyun…"

After saying this, he collapsed once again as his body can no longer take whatever he has endured.

_It has been so long between the buddies since the words "bug" and "demon" were in the same sentence. Keima only called Elsie a "bug__[2]__ demon" once, and it really made the little cry her heart out before being comforted by a classmate of hers._

God's lightning strikes twice in the same place at this time. Puffing her cheeks hard, the teary-eyed demon muttered to herself, "Nii-sama is an idiot… Baka! Baka! Baka! Hmph!"

She leaves her buddy lying on the ground as she walks away slowly, like she's about to burst into tears.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Oh, hey, people! **P3r50n5_UnKnWn** writing here for the NOHK. Yes, I am a member of it, a very proud member! I only did this part in a span of two days without rethinking stuffs. Haah, that "what-if" question...** I may not release the first chapter for some time due to me and my authenticity problems, but rest assured, it will arrive.** I've already started it, so there's no use turning back... Here are the first two footnotes. XD

[1]: Galges: Bishoujo dating sims (Yeah, if you don't know this, you really haven't read the series yet. Please do so. :D)

[2]: Bug: Bug as in programming errors.


	2. Chapter 1: Hell's Control Panel

_This fanfiction is based on __**Tamiki Wakaki-san**__'s __**The World God Only Knows**_**. **_Franchise ain't mine, y'hear? Er, y'read? XD_

* * *

**_Chapter 1: Hell's Control Panel_**

The sun shone brightly on Maijima City one summer day. It was still early in the morning. A small quaint café in the middle of some houses called Café Grandpa was still in the middle of setting up for opening on that day. Or so it seemed to outsiders. Outside, sounds of someone moving tables and chairs seemed like a clumsy old man was doing the setting up. Inside the café, though, was a really upset and angry devil creating a simple meal. Her raiment engulfed the entire kitchen area and the nearby open rooms surrounding it. A dark aura surrounded this devil as she poured condensed milk on a frying pan.

"Stupid Nii-sama… To think I thought he changed for the better after all those events… In the end, he still values his games more than me. More than all we've been through…" the devil murmured to herself.

"He may be the great God of Conquests, but I'll show him what I can really do!" she added on.

Yes, once again, that was Elsie. Still upset about Keima insulting her beforehand, she was passionately cooking breakfast. Her raiment allowed her to do 6 cooking tasks just like Keima in his "God of Conquest" mode. Around her, eggs are being beat, mayonnaise and cheese are being mixed, the frying pan is being heated, vegetables are being sliced, and the work area was being cleaned. Her hands are busy with carving the word "Nii-sama" on a carrot. She whispered a long phrase to it and kissed it. Then, she threw it in the air and swiftly hacked and slashed it. As the bits of the carrot fell on the frying pan, smoke appeared from it and frying sounds echoed the rooms. The smoke cleared seconds later, revealing a plate of pancakes with mixed vegetables.[1]

"Prepare yourself, Nii-sama! This curse I made for you can't fail!" Elsie said, proud of her work.

With the dish in her hands and her raiment turning back to normal, Elsie went on to Keima's room.

_Elsie has only created one curse prior to this one in a form of a slightly appealing curry. She herself doesn't know if the first curse worked, but the anger she felt in her heart consumed her and made it sure to herself that this new curse would work no matter what._

Meanwhile, the residents of New Hell are about to end their day. There are no heavenly bodies in Hell like the ones in Earth to tell day from night. At that, _how does one tell their Hellian age, let alone time? _That's where Hell's control panel comes into play. _In the middle of the realm lies a large mainframe that controls and regulates all of Hell's technological aspects. This system deals with the simple things like telling time in Hell and complex tasks like managing Hell's peacekeeping force. It's an important aspect that keeps New Hell intact. Lose it, and the realm is done for._

Those were the last words a little devil heard from her classes this day.

"So, Hell has 20 hours a day split equally in half. That's 10 hours in the opening and 10 in the end." the little devil counted with her little fingers.

"Yo, Ellie! You still thinking about Hellian time? At this rate, you'll forget the time now and get caught for breaking the curfew!" another devil said as she tapped her friend's shoulder.

"Mou[2], Chi-chan. You're always like this. So buggy. Aren't you at least curious?" the devil referred to as Ellie responded.

"Curious? About Hellian time? What for? It's there already. What more can you ask about?" Chi-chan replied.

"W-well… Umm… Scarlet-sensei said something earlier about 4 more hours on Earth. And… and… -"

"Oh, stop it, Ellie!" Chi-chan interrupted while petting Ellie's head.

"Well, watch says it's getting late. Ellie, if you want to catch the great Michiko du Ryuute Hortaleza in action playing Carol on Duty: Black Corps, let's hurry to my place!"

"Umm… Chi-chan can go on ahead." Ellie timidly told her friend.

"I have something to do…"

"Your call… Bye, then, Ellie!" Chi-chan said as she ran towards the district waving her friend goodbye.

Ellie waved at her slowly and shyly. When she can no longer see her friend, she faced to the place where she was headed. She tied her short black hair, made a left-sided ponytail, and jogged. As she jogged, thoughts of a while ago came back to her. Idea after idea, contradiction after contradiction, argument after argument. All these popped up in her head.

"What is Scarlet-sensei even teaching us? I don't care about the Earth! But then again, why is Earth's time like that? Earth is so weird! 225-year-old me is just a low 12-year old in that place!? That sucks, if you ask me! So, does that mean that 100-year-old Earthlings are…? Uuuu!~~ How many days are on Earth? How many minutes are on Earth? Seconds? What are the "sun" and the "moon" that Sensei said? Agh! If she said these, she must've explained it… If only my sisters were here… I want to know more about our time!"

"Oh, do you now, little girl?"

A deep, masculine voice asked the little devil. Startled, Ellie tripped and tumbled for a few meters.

"Ow! Wow, that really hurts! Hearing voices… I should stop running for a while. Too much thinking for the day!"

"But you _have_ thought of our time, and you want to learn about it, am I right?" the voice spoke again.

"Who are you!? Why do you want to help me? Can you even help me? Why won't you show yourself?" Ellie replied loudly as she stood up looking around.

"My, you truly are a curious young one. I remember myself in you. Asking one question after another. Getting nothing answered. But I can help you answer such. Come with me, young one."

The tone of the voice changed from a deep tone to a not so deep one, but the masculinity was still heard. After this has been said, a tall slender bishounen[3] wearing a purple jacket approached the little devil.

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

The man received a powerful punch to his jaw sending him flying up in the air. That high-impact haymaker came from a very frightened Ellie. As the man stood back up to his feet, Ellie quickly helped him up and apologized.

"Ah, sir! I'm sorry! I'm really sor-"

Ellie sees the face of the man. He had slick black hair, blue eyes, and a fair complexion. He looked like he really took care of his face. It looked perfect except for the punch mark on his face. Ellie was dazzled by him.

"No, child. I should be sorry. My choice of clothing isn't as normal as someone like you would think." the man said to Ellie.

Still dazzled, Ellie stuttered.

"Uh, um… uh… I'm… I'm sorry…"

Ellie looked away shyly. The man chuckled a bit.

"How do you call yourself?" the man asked.

"C-call?" Ellie still stutters.

"I'm… E-E… I'm Ellie."

"Ellie…"

The man stood on his feet.

"Ah, thank you, Ellie."

"You're… welcome…"

Some seconds of awkward silence ensued until the man spoke up.

"Ellie, I do want to help you. Your curiosity reminds me of myself and why I continue to live. It's not a bad thing to be curious. It only is if you do nothing to make sure it's answered or satisfied."

The man held both of Ellie's hands together, his eyes shining.

"I'll help you! Come with me!"

Ellie was dazed by the man. Her face turned red and she looked like as if she was going to faint. She answered.

"Y-y…yes…"

With a grin, the man carried Ellie, held her like a princess, and dashed on to the direction Ellie was originally headed.

"Am I dreaming? Will a really handsome guy help me answer my simple question? Does he even know my question? And, wow, he's carrying me…" Ellie spaced out as more questions came to her.

Looking at Ellie, the man wondered and asked her,

"You seem to be in deep thought again, Ellie. What seems to be bothering you?"

"Huh? N-n-nothing much, really…"

"Really now?"

"W…well… I don't think you know why I'm curious. Unless you were the deep voice that surprised me, how would you know? Plus, I don't know your name. And… and…"

"Oh, is that so?"

The man stopped and brought Ellie down. He bowed to her like a gentleman and introduced himself.

"Call me Phoenix. It is a pleasure to meet an enthusiastic, curious lady like yourself."

"Phoenix… What a nice name…" Ellie murmured to herself.

"Now, young lady, about your other questions. I plan to leave no stone unturned for you. I remember calling out for you so I can answer your question, but hearing my voice now, do you think it's me, young lady? No. Also, anyone can hear you shouting out loud like a crazy man ranting about Hell knows what. No offense. It was about Hellian time, right?"

"Well, yes, I—"

"Ultimately, you want to know about Hell's control panel that controls everything." Phoenix interrupted Ellie's train of thought.

"Yes! Wait, Hell's control pa—"

"Ah! Such a simple-minded question, requiring lots of curiosity to answer. Well, do you know where it is located?"

"Um, yes. It's in the middle of the main city."

"Where exactly?"

"I don't know, but since it's just in the middle of the city, I guess it shouldn't be hard to find."

"You do know that the middle of the main city is a very large hill fortified with a certain defense force right?" Phoenix asked.

"Eh? Large hill? Defense force? There're such things there?" Ellie said, surprised.

"Ah, curiosity without any prior research… No matter. Well, let's get moving to the main city. The faster we get there, the faster I can get your question answered." Phoenix said as he smiled at Ellie.

She shyly looked away and said in a soft voice,

"Yeah, let's."

Phoenix approached her closely.

"Do you want me to carry you again, young one?"

Ellie stepped away quickly, embarrassed.

"Waah! W-w-what are you doing…?"

"I was going to carry you like before so we can be on our way."

"W-well, don't do it so suddenly! Don't move in too closely! Anyway, it's fine for me to walk going there. Actually, I'd rather run. It's to get my mind moving. Don't you agree? I mean, when you carried me, you were running, too."

"Curious _and_ observant. What an interesting lady. Of course, I agree with you. Forgive me for being too rash. It's a bad habit of mine. I pay the price due to that most of the time. Well, Ellie, let's make a run for it, shall we?" Phoenix told Ellie.

"Catch up if you can!" Ellie replied with a wink.

By the blink of an eye, the two rushed to the main city.

Some minutes passed, and we see Ellie and Phoenix in front of the entrance of the hill in the middle of the city, gazing at it in its enormity.

"Well, we got here faster than I thought. Hey, Phoenix-senpai, get here! Quickly!" Ellie said as she called the worn-out man.

Catching his breath, Phoenix replied.

"Haah… Haah… Wow. I can't run as fast and as long as before… Odd…"

"As before?"

"Yes, as before, and what's the deal with this whole senpai[4] thing?"

"You have a problem with it, senpai? You _are_ older than me, and even if I just met you, I still respect you. After all, you want to help me, and you want to listen to what I have to say."

"Well, that's not what I meant. At that, I can't help but notice you suddenly opening up to me. If I'm not mistaken, children your age usually run away after a random stranger approaches them. Plus, I can't help but notice your stutters during our first encounter. I no longer hear of it now. You truly are a unique young lady." Phoenix changed the topic.

"Y-you think so…? Well, thank you, but I—"

"**ALL CIVILIANS ARE PROHIBITED FROM BEING UP TO THIS POINT. PLEASE LEAVE THIS AREA IMMEDIATELY.**"

_Enter the defense robots of New Hell. From a civilian's standpoint, nothing much is known about these 160-cm metallic entities except that the government issued them around important parts of New Hell for protection and that they've been around just as long as the Runaway Spirits Squad has been active. From an Earthling's point of view, it's your robot stereotype that's silver and filled with bolts around its body._

"W-wha…? What are these things?" Ellie asked, gazing up at it, for it was taller than her.

"I have mentioned them a while ago, Ellie. They're that defense force I told you about." Phoenix reminded her.

"Ah, so they're that. Wow…"

A second for thoughts entered the area.

"Oh, well, then. It seems I can't enter the control panel at all. Might as well give up. Even so, I really wonder what's inside it. I bet it looks awesome, but yeah. Robots…"

Ellie sighed and proceeded to walk away from the hill. Phoenix grabbed her arm and exclaimed.

"Hey! Hey! Heeeey! Where do you think you're going?"

Blushing, Ellie replied.

"H-huh? T-there you go being rash again! I'm going home now. It's not like I can get in there now! Did you see the robots other than the one that stopped us?"

She took her arm from Phoenix's grasps and ran away. Before she could get far, the man shouted almost at the top of his lungs.

"What if I told you that I can _really_ get you inside?"

Ellie stopped on her tracks, turned around, and stared blankly at Phoenix.

"Giving up after seeing such an obstacle… I expected more from you, Ellie. Why do you keep forgetting why I'm here? I'm here to help you! In any way I can!" Phoenix reassured.

The gloom that the little devil felt disappeared as it was replaced by the reassurance of Phoenix's words. She walked slowly to him. With her eyes closed and a little smile on her face, she asked,

"Is that so? How do you think we'd do that?"

"Why, we do something both you and I are good at!"

"Mm?"

"We make a run for it!" Phoenix smiled showing his teeth.

"Eeeehhh!? Are you nuts? There's a high chance that the robots will hunt us down and, well, kill us! Can't we do something less, you know…, suicidal?" Ellie yelled at the man in reaction to his bold idea.

"Do you trust me, Ellie?"

"Yes, I do, but what does trust have to do with this?"

Ellie stops walking as she reaches Phoenix. Unexpectedly, Phoenix carries the little devil like he did before.

"That's enough for me to hear. To Hell's control panel we go!"

Phoenix then sprinted onwards heading back to the tall hill. The robots guarding it were patrolling around it in pairs, moving at a set pace to the left and at the same pace to the right. As Phoenix was meters away from the entrance, two robot pairs converge, blocking the man's way.

"**ALL CIVILIANS ARE PROHIBITED FROM BEING—**"

"Out of my way, you bunch of bucket of bolts!" Phoenix exclaimed loudly as he bashed aside the four robots.

Ellie was clinging tightly to the man. Her head was resting on the man's chest, and her eyes were closed while Phoenix forced his way to the entrance. A long branching stairwell greeted the duo. Without ceasing, Phoenix dashed towards the left stairwell.

"Ellie, open your eyes. You don't want to not see this facility, now, do you?" Phoenix said to Ellie.

Ellie opened her eyes and looked forward. To her surprise, it wasn't anything special. All she saw were stairs and the grass surrounding it. It was like a stereotypical path towards a shrine.

"Is this it?" she asked in a disappointed tone.

As the stairs forked again, Phoenix took the right side and told the seemingly down little devil,

"We're just moving up the hill. Don't worry, young lady. Once we get to the top, you'll see the true thing, but we're still far from it—"

Suddenly, a missile takes a near miss at Phoenix and hits parts of the stairwell. He avoids the splash with a high jump and proceeded to move onwards. As the smoke from the explosion starts to clear, around 10 robots chase down the duo. These robots have a darker paint than the previous ones, they are more heavily-armed, and they have jet boosters on their backs. Phoenix took a quick glance. Realizing what he was dealing with, he rushed even more towards his goal. As the stairwell branched, Phoenix kept taking the right side, changing his path every after two forks, hoping he'd lose the robots. The robots, though, never lost sight of him. Their barrage of missiles can attest to that, grazing the man by just inches. His reflexes, incorporated with his current speed, saved him and the little devil in his arms. As Phoenix took what seemed to be the last right of this branching stairwell, the scenery changed. From the shrine path stereotype, the surroundings looked eerie in a sense that one feels a dark aura when he's in the area. Along with the darkness that suddenly enveloped the place, red strobing lights spun in a circle, and a very loud sound echoed in the mostly empty area.

"**_BREACH DETECTED. ALL UNITS, WE ARE NOW ON RED ALERT. ELIMINATE ALL HOSTILES IN THE AREA. PRIORITY 1: UNKNOWN ENTITY WEARING A PURPLE JACKET. I REPEAT…—"_**

It was an alert message. It repeated every 3 seconds. A scared Ellie clings tighter to Phoenix and worriedly asks.

"S-senpai… What is that…?"

"Something of no great concern, Ellie. This just means we're nearing our destination."

A few strides later, the duo arrived to the top of the hill.

"Again, nothing here?" Ellie questioned in a seemingly calm manner.

"Widen your view, Ellie. You're not seeing everything." Phoenix told her.

Ellie looked around. She looked to the left, then to the right. She scratched her head.

"There really is nothing here! Senpai, that can't be it, right? All the running, the whole chase sequence, you suddenly appearing. All for nothing?"

She was starting to lose hope that this random bishounenwould be able to answer her simple question.

"All I wanted to know was just about our time… How did it end up like this…? But I remember there _is_ something in my mind about that control panel when Phoenix mentioned it… Mou! This place looks nothing like a control panel! No big machines, no flashy lights, no buttons, no nothing! All that's here are trees, grass, and a hole in the middle of… the…"

Phoenix smiled after hearing this monologue. Ellie's descriptions were spot-on. The place was grassy, had tall trees, and had an unusual hole in the middle. She tapped Phoenix on his shoulder, signaling him to put her down. He does so. She then moved close to the hole. It looked like a bottomless dark pit. Heaven knows what's under there. Phoenix walked to her, stopping a few meters behind her.

"We're here…" he said in a soft tone.

Ellie looked behind to see the man. A split-second later, she sees a missile heading straight for them.

**BOOM!**

The missile takes a direct hit at Phoenix. The explosion sends the two falling into the hole. This causes Ellie to faint.

A moment of silence…

And then…

***THUD!***

More silence…

"**TARGET NEUTRALIZED! THE STATE OF ALERT HAS BEEN LIFTED! I HOPE I GET AN UPGRADE FOR THIS!**"

That was the voice of a darker-painted defense robot which shot that missile. After saying this, the robot proceeded downstairs, seemingly satisfied with the end result.

Meanwhile, in the bottom of the hole, a little devil was lying on the floor unconscious. The school uniform she was wearing was almost torn to pieces. Her polo was so tattered that all she would be able to do is hold it up to prevent it from falling. The ribbon for her polo has been disintegrated. The sides of her skirt have been ripped apart. The ponytail she had on is now gone, and the rest of her hair became frizzy. Something clanged, and at the sound of that, the little devil woke up.

"Uuugh… Where am I? What is this place…?"

At the sound of her weakened voice, the place lighted up. It revealed a long hall with black doors placed on both sides. This startled her, but she remained lying down, seemingly still hurt.

"S-senpai! What is this place? W-where are you? Senpai!" Ellie calls out with the same weak voice.

There was no response.

"Phoenix-senpai!" Ellie shouted as loud as she can.

Still, there was no response. The little devil tried as hard as she can to stand up. With her right hand against the wall and her left arm pressed on her chest, she moved forward. While calling out for the man who was supposed to help her, she walked along the long hall and observed it. It extended at a considerably long distance. The doors to her left had a label on top of each door. She was unable to read them because it looked like they were written in another language. The doors to her right, where her hand was pressed on, had no label. All except on the first door. It was written in Hellian. It was a notice that said,

"Kindly turn on the magic barriers on all these doors. The commands are in English, and I can't understand them… Thanks! ^_^ -Luz"

After she read the notice, she looked at the doors once again but with a more discerning look in her eyes. At that, she noticed a rather faint aura around the doors. It may be blurry, but she really noticed a purple aura around all the doors. Could it be the barriers the notice mentioned? Ellie presumed so. Heaven knows what this form of magic could do to her weakened body, so she pushed herself away from the wall and back to the center. Some of her strength has returned somewhat as she moved forward at a better pace. Some steps later, she reaches the end of the hall. A door of the same kind stands in her way, but there is a noticeable difference to it. Lights surrounding it flicker on and off at an interval. The aura around the door seemingly flickered at the same pace with the lights. With a scent of both fear and curiosity, Ellie touched the door. She did so while the barrier flickered to on. This gave her a weak electric shock and pushed her back. Her polo fell off due to the pushback. Normally, this would reveal something the general public isn't allowed to see. Instead, it showed an elastic purple garment shaped into a Kevlar vest. Instinctively, she wrapped both of her arms around her chest. She was surprised when she felt the garment around her. After feeling it in awe, she stood up and tried to open the door once again. Unknowingly, she touched it at the right time, when the barrier was out, so the door opened for her. She stepped into the dark room. It seemed to be empty, but the little devil can hear someone talking. As she took another step forward, the place lighted up.

"_Nii-sama must eat… Else, he'll die from hunger. Whatever it takes, he will be energized with what I made, and more. Nii-sama will like it. Kami-niisama will love it! Fufufufu…"_

The voice became audible enough for the little devil. Along with the voice, six large screens appeared meters in front of her. Behind the screens were large machineries of sorts primarily composed of cylindrical items a simple mind knows nothing of. Below the screens were a series of buttons and keys that lighted up at random times. These were all set on a very huge study desk painted chrome silver. The left-side screens showed two parts of the school Ellie attended. The right-side screens showed a bird's eye view of the large hill on the upper screen and a bird's eye view of New Hell on the lower screen. The bottom-middle screen showed nothing but static, but the top-middle one showed something. It doesn't look like it was any place in New Hell. Even so, it showed a picture of a devil holding a plate. Ellie cannot see the face of the devil. All she can make out was that the devil wore purple clothing, a long pink scarf, and sported a long ponytail. The bangs of her black hair covered her face. Her head was facing the plate, and it looked like she was murmuring something. Ellie's eyes widened at the sight of her.

"Could she be…?" she asked herself as she walked towards the screen.

As she draws closer to the screen and ultimately to the chrome table, a set of numbers flashed atop the middle screen in red, and a bell sound rang. The numbers were written in Hellian. A surprised Ellie jumped backwards and shouted.

"16:59!"

She exclaimed the current time in New Hell as shown by the numbers.

"T-time? Maybe… Wow, that was surprising." Ellie thought.

"But nevermind that! This girl… Could she be…?"

She moved forward, close to the table again.

"She's someone I need to talk to!"

Ellie called out to her.

"Heeeey! Nee-san![5] Can you hear me? It's me! Ellie!"

There was no response from the devil as she proceeded to walk towards a door to her left.

"Heeey! Heey!"

After hopeless attempts to call the mystery lady, Ellie observes the table. Some buttons out of her reached flickered on and off. A certain skull-shaped button on the lower part of the table blinked a blue light. It had a label on top of it. It was a language the little devil did not understand. It was in the same language with the labels on the doors of the previous hall.

"Hmm…? This looks like it read 'speak'. If I press this, maybe now, Nee-san can hear me!"

Assuring herself it said such, she pressed the skull-shaped button without hesitation.

CLICK!

Everything went dark…

"Waaahhh! W-w-w... what happened? Did I do something wrong?"

Ellie repeatedly clicked the skull-shaped button which she can now only feel.

"C'mon! Speak! Speak! I want to speak with that girl!"

Several pressing later, she gave up. To add, the lights never came back on. Ellie started to get scared and panic after some time passed that the power hasn't returned.

"Where's Phoenix-senpai when you need him? Uuu… I have to get the lights back on. The switch has to be here somewhere. I need to find it, and fast! This place is getting creepy…"

She then blindly searches for something on the table that could make her situation better. All of a sudden, she heard a sound of something like coins dropping. She was startled and became more anxious. She swiftly swiped through the buttons on the table, desperate for a good outcome.

"Ah! A lever!"

She frantically pulled the lever downwards. Midway to her action, the power went back online. The anxiety she felt backed up by the random uncontrolled happenings caused Ellie to use too much force in pulling the lever.

You know what happens next…

"Oops…"

Ellie held the lever in her left hand, stared at it, and blinked twice.

"_Systems offline. All electronics are down. Get ready, denizens…"_

The screens that never had the chance to reboot conjured electric impulses all over the place. These surges caused the cylinders behind the screens to explode in a cascade. This triggered the ceiling to collapse onto the complex pieces of machinery. More explosions destroyed the area's confining walls. The place was reduced to rubble. Heaven knows what happened to the curious little devil who was assisted by a mysterious man.

Let's go to the situation of the characters we all know and love. This happened around ten minutes before the current events in New Hell.

Elsie headed to Keima's room after preparing a dish for her buddy who collapsed from hunger. On this day, she wasn't the regular Elucia de Lute Irma[6] that everyone knows. She really took the insult Keima dealt to her. It was a shallow one at that, but for some reason, she felt that Keima really meant what he said. Now her attitude took a whole 180. She stared at her work of art and murmured to herself.

"Nii-sama must eat… Else, he'll die from hunger. Whatever it takes, he will be energized with what I made, and more. Nii-sama will like it. Kami-niisama will love it! Fufufufu…"

As she reached the door to Keima's room, she felt a sudden chill. Without turning anywhere, she said to herself.

"I feel like someone's watching me. Good… They shall see my true power when it comes to curses!"

She opens the door and proceeds to her buddy's room. Nothing has changed after she left. The room was still a mess. Like a bomb exploded in this room. The gaming area was cut in half. The hole in the wall remained. There was debris everywhere. Not to mention, Keima still lied there unconscious next to the broken CD of One Leaf, a galge his favorite heroine stars in.

"Nii-sama… Wake up…" Elsie speaks to Keima indifferently while nudging him with her foot.

"Nii-sama… Time to eat…" she continues on.

"Nii-sama…"

Since Keima won't wake up, the devil buddy decides to use her raiment to carry Keima. At Elsie's command, the raiment ties itself to Keima's stomach and brings the unconscious gamer near Elsie. Unexpectedly, Keima utters something.

"I'm sorry… I didn't mean… what I said…"

Surprised by this, Elsie accidentally lets go of Keima. He falls on his back, but he still remains unconscious. The gamer continued.

"I just had to say that because of the current circumstances. I never wanted to hurt your feelings. Even if I tell you, you wouldn't understand because… because I… because I have to save them!"

As Keima finished, he immediately rose. Just like someone who just had a bad dream. Elsie was moved by the little words Keima said. It's as if she's really easily influenced by this boy's words. She kneeled and immediately hugged Keima. With tears in her eyes, she told him.

"Uu… Nii-sama, I'm sorry, too, for causing you lots of trouble. You've always been harsh to me verbally, but now I'm reminded that I should value whatever you tell me, so I can improve myself. Deep down, Nii-sama is very kind… I promise I'll patch up whatever needs fixing, and I promise I'd buy you the things I broke and more than that! Uu~ Nii-sama…"

Embarrassed by the situation, Keima tries to break free from Elsie's hug. With a bright red face, he told her.

"Waa, Elsie! Let go of me! Let go! Why are you hugging me? Aghhh!"

Keima struggles to get free, and his condition didn't help him. He feels weakened from his struggling. He bowed his head and breathed heavily.

"Elsie… Haah… Stop hugging me…" Keima uneasily told his buddy as he tapped her left shoulder twice.

Coming to her senses, Elsie lets go of Keima. Keima pressed his hands to the floor, still breathing heavily. Elsie glanced at the exhausted Keima, quickly changed her sights to the plate, and remembered the current situation.

"Ah, Nii-sama! You took too long without eating. Here. Eat this, please!~"

She handed the plate to the weak-looking Keima. He blankly stared at the plate. Without any second thoughts, he chugged down the dish. The mixed flavor of the sweet pancakes and the tangy mixed vegetables filled Keima's mouth. He swallowed the meal.

"Elsie, haven't I told you that…"

Keima suddenly stood up and exclaimed.

"I ABSOLUTELY HATE SWEET THINGS! Oh, wow. I feel energized. Interesting meal. I can use one of these every once in a while."

Elsie was elated at Keima's remark.

"Ooooh… Wow! I'm glad you said so, Nii-sama! Heehee… I actually did it! It worked! My curse… worked. Arre?[7]"

After she said this, Keima stared at his buddy in astonishment. Elsie did the same. Both of them blinked twice, and then.

"EHHH!? What did you say!? C-curse?" Keima yelled as he put his hand on Elsie's shoulder and shook her.

"Wha-what…? N-nothing! I said nothing! Mou, Nii-sama. You still believe in curses?" Elsie told Keima while faking a smile.

"Don't lie to me! I know when you're lying! You just don't say things so unnecessarily!"

"Uhh… Ehh…"

Elsie looks away from her buddy.

"Answer me!"

Then suddenly…

DORODORODORODORODORODORODORODORO…

The skullpiece's eyes on the devil buddy's head blinked light blue.

"Hmm…? A message?" Elsie wondered as she took the skullpiece from her head.

"Denizens of New Hell, we are in a grave situation. Our technology. Our very way of life is at risk. For now, save up the gadgets you all have now. You'll never know when you'll truly need them. Don't worry, though. This'll all be fix—"

Audio from the skullpiece sounded around the room. It was cut short and all that remained was static. Elsie clicked the right eye of the skullpiece, and the static stopped.

"Did you hear that, Nii-sama? I feel there is something wrong with Hell…" Elsie asks Keima in a worried tone.

"It didn't sound too serious… Plus, quoting from a game and conveying it to others is a sign this is a prank." Keima answered calmly and indifferently.

"B-but, Nii-sama, that was the voice of the ruler of New Hell!"

"Ruler? You new-generation demons are democrats or something? Whatever this is, this doesn't concern me. I'm going to put this plate in the kitchen sink."

Keima then exits the room.

"W-wait up, Nii-sama! At least listen to what I have to say about this! Nii-sama!~"

Elsie leaves the room in pursuit of her buddy.

This series of random events throughout these two realms filled the current atmosphere with unease. Not everyone is aware of the current happenings. If you've read this thoroughly and understood it, good for you…

* * *

Author's Notes:

Once again, what's up? P3r50n5_UnKnWn over here writing for the NOHK! After an accumulated writing time of almost 48 hours, I have finally finished Chapter 1 of this completely impulsive fanfiction! Yay! Even so, I'm very sorry about that one month delay, plus more delays. I was about to post this by August 1 to kick off the new month with some bang for the epic readers, especially the first reviewer who seems to be a devoted Kami Nomi zo Shiru Sekai fan like myself. Shout-out to gamingunkown1 for that! Woo! XD

First thoughts while writing this Chapter 1:

Did I just turn Elsie into a witch…? No, seriously, did I just do so? Did I just forget her true nature and create one that's the polar opposite? Main excuse to slide away from this: the setting of the fanfic. It happened during a certain long period after Vintage's destruction, so yeah…

Midway towards the whole thing, I realized the domination of the OCs during this point in time. I still don't know whether there are many people who still stick to reading fanfics after overusage or introduction of OCs. Ah, well. It's my call, anyway. XD

I used a lot of repetitive words. Yeah, I know. I'm not too wordy with some aspects. I was writing this on impulse.

23 and 5/6 pages of this raw thing in my Religion notebook FTW! And it's ironic how I'm writing about Hell in a Religion notebook. Genius…

As with Chapter 1, the next chapter will be delayed for a yay long time due to me and my authenticity problems and my school problems. Hell, I sacrificed most of my time for this than in reviewing for certain entrance exams to be held in the coming hours. Yes, hours.

Oh, forget about my struggles! Please review this epic work that I toiled on, almost being confiscated by teachers here and there. Wow. Here are the footnotes:

[1]: Pancakes with mixed vegetables… Yeah… Best I can do on impulse. Okay to laugh upon or critique, but I don't feel like changing it. XD

[2]: Mou: A Japanese word translating to something like, "Geez!" or at least that's what I think.

[3]: Bishounen: A Japanese term that translates as "young boy" or some boy in his teen years. Usually described as good-looking, I think.

[4]: Senpai: A Japanese honorific used by a lowerclassman to his/her upperclassman. Is there even a word such as "lowerclassman"? But that's beside the point.

[5]: Nee-san: Another Japanese honorific used by someone younger to address his/her older sister. In the context, Ellie uses it to respectfully call out an unknown lady seemingly just a few years older than her. Like Elsie's "Nii-sama" to Keima; the latter being much more respectful, maybe a little bit too respectful? And "nii" is for an elder brother, just to say.

[6]: Elucia de Lute Irma: Now, now. I know Elsie's real full name is Elysia de Lute Irma, but yeah, I decided to use the previous one. Why? It sounds better for me, that's why, and because I can. Yeah, that's why.

[7]: Arre: How to describe this word… It's used like a "Huh?" in Japanese. Yeah. That's a good way to describe it.

Does everyone even need a footnote for the basic Japanese terms…? Ah, well. Better safe than sorry. XD


	3. Chapter 2: Another Set of Antics

_This fanfiction is based on __**Tamiki Wakaki-san**__'s __**The World God Only Knows**_**. **_Franchise ain't mine, y'hear? Er, y'read? XD_

* * *

**_Chapter 2: Another Set of Antics_**

Keima walked briskly towards the kitchen with the plate in his right hand. Elsie hurriedly followed him.

"Nii-sama! Wait up!" she tells him.

Completely ignoring her, he moves on. As he approaches the sink, he takes a sponge, applies a drop of dishwashing liquid into it, and starts to clean the plate. He wiped the plate clean of the grease in seconds, cleansed it with water, and placed it in a drawer. Without any words exchanged with the girl bothering him, he proceeded on back to his room in the same pace he had when he entered.

"Nii-sama!"

Elsie grabbed Keima's right arm with both her hands. Keima shook her hands off at that instead, but Elsie reclaimed his arm.

"Nii-sama! Hey! What's wrong? Are you mad at me? Why don't you want to listen to what I want to say?" she asked Keima in a successive manner.

"Because shut up!" he responded.

"Uuu!~ What an unreasonable response… Mou, Nii-sama, what's really the matter?"

Keima stopped walking, and everything went quiet.

"I don't know…"

Some seconds later, Keima spoke up in a softer tone than his previous response.

"I don't know…" he repeated.

"I don't… know… You've always been like this. You do something good for me, but it always turns into something wrong. If that's not the case, you have a bad intent that goes wrong then eventually goes as planned after it backfires."

"Eh?"

Elsie tilted her head in confusion after hearing the last sentence.

"Just then in my room, you said your curse '_worked_'. So, that can only mean that this energy boost you gave me through that eccentric meal will eventually bring something bad upon me. Won't it? Huh, Elsie?" Keima concluded as he turned to his buddy, glaring at her intimidatingly.

"B-b-b-b-but, Nii-sama, nothing wrong's happened to you yet, and don't you think this energy boost is a g-good thing?" Elsie replied, somewhat intimidated.

"You said '_yet_'! So, that means there _will_ be some poison flag you set up for me!"

"P-poison flag?"

"You know what I mean! Something wrong _will_ happen to me! Next thing you know, my stomach will grumble chaotically, or my whole body would go numb for an entire day, or worse!"

Keima brought his eyes close to Elsie and continued to glare at her with the look of someone with a killing intent.

"Your curse may be able to reach my gaming. Multiple save files and other data would be gone one by one without me noticing. That includes my own storage of data files in my head. There's no telling the gravity of damage that your curse can deal." he stated in a gloomy manner.

"Uuu~ What kind of response is this? Jumping to conclusions? It's not like you, Nii-sama!"

Elsie looked down, away from Keima, and scratched her head.

"Nii-sama's not thinking clearly…" she murmurs.

"I blame your curse. You're right, I'm not thinking straight. I blame your curse."

"Is it that important? M-mou! Nii-sama, just calm down…"

But Keima continues.

"I won't calm down, especially because of the impending doom bestowed upon me. Moreso, I won't calm down because the one telling me to calm down is the one who brought that doom to me!"

He pauses. He fixes his glasses and adds.

"Plus, I think even the creator of these events doesn't know what he's writing. No consideration for how the main hero feels. He isn't even putting things in the proper place!"

"Nii-sama, of all the things you've said, that has to be the unclearest! Go back to normal already!"

Elsie slaps Keima's cheeks. Keima flinched!

"Nii-sama!"

Elsie slaps Keima's cheeks repeatedly. By the fifth twin-slap, Keima blocks Elsie's hands.

"Hey, quit it! What's wrong with you? I'm normal already! Well, less normal because of your antics. I could be playing my games right no—"

Remembering the incident, Keima crunched his fists at Elsie's head and gave her a noogie.

"Ah, that's right. You broke my gaming equipment!" Keima says in a sarcastic tone, continuing to bully Elsie.

He abruptly stops his mini-assault and says.

"Agh. Why should I even listen to your nonsense anyway? If it's about your so called "_leader_', I conclude he's just a nobody. I mean, come on! How can you even know of a random character just appearing out of the blue while you were here on Earth all the time? You could've just inferred that because it's a voice you're not familiar with!"

"B-b-but, Nii-sama!" Elsie replied quickly.

"I really _am_ telling the truth! I know of her! Here's a picture of her!"

The devil manipulates her raiment to create a monitor, but as she did that…

_The ground rumbled…_

_The whole house started to shake…_

_And suddenly, it stopped._

Keima stood his ground while gripping on a nearby desk, while Elsie fell to the ground flat on her face, completely taken off-guard by the earthquake.

"Keh… An earthquake? It's been a while. Good thing it lasted for only an instant."

Keima brushed dust off his shirt and took a glance at his fallen buddy.

"Oi. Get up. I can't have you lying down there like that. It's just an earthquake."

At his command, Elsie stands up, still shaken by the sudden earthquake.

"Uuu~ That was scary, Nii-sama! It could've been more dangerous if that continued longer!" the devil made a remark.

"Hmm… now that you mention it, Elsie…" Keima replied, his mood unusually shifting from somewhat grumpy to somewhat gentle.

"It's kind of… weird… Elsie, earthquakes that are as strong as the previous one would last for minutes, seconds if we're lucky. Sudden stops like that… They're unusual. It's like a bomb exploded, and something engulfed it…"

"Heeeeeh~ Is that so?" Elsie responded, nodding slightly.

At that time, a sound of a bell rang.

***ding dong!***

"Ah, the doorbell!"

"Elsie, you've been with my family for around two years, but you still don't know squat! We don't _have_ a doorbell. This is a café, mind you. That's the bell saying it's time to open the shop. Now, gear up for the opening while I open the entrance."

Keima walked slowly towards the entrance door.

"Nii-sama… really isn't normal today…" Elsie murmured to herself. Keima reached for the doorknob with a key he took from one of his pockets, but the doorknob moved by itself. Unlocking sounds followed. The door opened. Not to Keima's surprise, another familiar face entered the scene.

"Keima! I'm home!~ What did I miss?"

"Oh, hi, Kaa-san[1]. Welcome home. You're just in time. The café's just opened. Come in." Keima said in a polite manner.

"Why, thank you, Keima…"

That person was Mari Katsuragi, Keima's mother. She took quick steps towards the concessionaire stand and, in seeing Elsie standing nearby, rushed to her alleged half-daughter, hugged her, and cried out.

"El-chan! What happened to Keima!? He's not himself today! I feel this isn't right, but I feel it is."

"Relax, Okaa-sama. Look, you're burning up. Sit down. I'll get something for that."

Elsie assisted Mari to a nearby stool and left the room to get medicine. Indeed, Mari felt under the weather, but it wasn't the fever. She looked flushed, and her face was red, but it wasn't the fever.

"Are you alright, Kaa-san?" Keima asked her.

"Ah, er… y-yes, I'm fine…" she replied.

"Hmm? It doesn't look like it, Kaa-san. Let me check."

Keima put his hand on his mother's forehead. Mari's face grew redder.

"Mmhmm. You're burning up. Elsie must've gone to get medicine. Come here, kaa-san. Let's get you lied down so you can rest up."

Keima gave a gentle smile to his mother and said.

"I don't want to see you like that. Please get well."

Mari's face was purely red. She became dazed, and then…

"Waah! Oi, Kaa-san! Get a hold of yourself! Don't just suddenly fall asleep!"

Mari fainted.

"Ugh… Oh, man, Kaa-san weighs a ton. Ugh… Gotta bring her somewhere she could lie down."

Keima made his mother stand up, put her right arm over his shoulders and his left arm over hers and moved on to the living room. Upon entering, he sees Elsie frantically searching the cabinets for a medicine.

"Ugh… Elsie. Help me out."

"Heh? Ah, Okaa-sama!"

The devil immediately stopped her search and helped her buddy carry Mari to the sofa.

"Nii-sama, what happened to Okaa-sama?" Elsie asked, not knowing of the weight of her question.

"You don't know? She went to _you_ as she get here!" Keima harshly replied.

"Uu~ That's not what I meant! She was holding up well a while ago! Why did she faint?"

"I don't know that! All I did was check if she was feeling well or not, then she just suddenly turns even redder and faints!"

"Heeeeh…"

The room turns silent as Elsie gets lost in thought, and Keima tends to Mari.

"Elsie, the medicine?"

"Ah! Right!"

Coming back from the short trip to her inner thoughts, Elsie goes back to searching for a medicine. She uses her raiment to open all of the cabinets in the area.

"It's not here…" Elsie says with a sigh.

"Well, go find one somewhere!"

"Hauu~ Nii-sama, your words are so cruel…"

Elsie slowly walks towards a door to another room. Then, she stops in her tracks when she gets to the door.

"But now that I think about it… No. I don't need to get medicine for Okaa-sama." she openly says in a soft voice.

"What!? What's gotten into that dumb brain of yours? Can't you see? Kaa-san is sick—"

"Okaa-sama isn't sick!"

"Huh?"

"She isn't sick… Okaa-sama is like that because of you, Nii-sama! It's because you're not normal today!" Elsie yelled at her buddy at the top of her lungs. She continued.

"Not even Kami-niisama knows himself well… The way you act is already really different from how you really are. You still act cold towards others _especially_ to Okaa-sama. I remember Okaa-sama once said she dreams that her son would be a model child. Someone who'd ask her how's her day been, massage her while she sips a cup of tea, or, at least, someone takes notice of her without her having to get angry. Nii-sama doesn't do those things normally, but you just did it when you opened the door. I think Nii-sama said something…"

Elsie turned slowly to Keima.

"…sweet to Okaa-sama."

She gave a faint smile to Keima. He put his right hand over his mouth and started to recall the previous events. Silently, he remembered his menial actions of conversing with his mother and actions of helping her out. Of course, at first, he thought it was normal for him to do such acts, but he rearranged his thoughts and found himself with a question.

"Were those my kind of normal?"

Keima takes more time to think. In hindsight, he never did anything to fully interact with the real. That's the main thing that is now in his head. When he remembered the words he told his mother, he put both of his hands on his face, bowed his head and uttered in a soft, self-demeaning tone.

"What the hell is wrong with me…?"

Retaining the smile, Elsie blankly stared at Keima and walked towards him.

"But Nii-sama is a better person that way…" she said in an attempt to comfort the confused gamer.

"Why do you think it's wrong, Nii-sama? It's good that you're now living with the real. Don't worry, Nii-sama. What Okaa-sama is feeling right now is just like Tenri-san during her conquest. Diana-san said Tenri was overjoyed by your kiss. Okaa-sama was overjoyed when you were very kind towards her. But it's also weird for okaa-sama to faint due to just that…"

Elsie extended her arms forward to hug Keima, when at that instant, Mari woke up. Elsie diverted her arms from Keima to Mari, then followed up to hug the mother who took her in the household.

"Ohayoo[2], Okaa-sama!" she said with a huge smile.

"Oh, El-chan, ohayoo…" Mari greeted Elsie in return.

"I had a great dream…"

"Heeeeh~ Tell me about it, Okaa-sama."

"Well…"

Mari got up and sat on the sofa.

"It started when my husband and I went on a date all over South America. He took me to amazing, romantic places. Your father is a very charming man. Had he not been like that, I would've stayed in the biker club all my life. No matter how much I'm reminded of him having daughters from other women during the date and how much I bashed at him for that, he stayed patient and unfazed. When he brought me under a large oak tree in the middle of the grasslands and reassured his love for me, it was the most romantic thing I've ever seen. Something like the ones in manga, movies, and manga turned into movies. He never even forgot about you guys and bought souvenirs for you. It was touching, and it showed me that even though he works far away from home, he's doing his best to create our perfect family. Then, when I got back home, for the first time ever, Keima greeted me. And it's not just the monotonous greeting of his as if he just coincidentally opened the door and _had_ to greet me. He greeted me like a good son would. I thought it was a joke when I asked you in my dream. It _was_ true, then all of a sudden, Keima said something sweet. Was unlike him, but it was the best Keima I've ever seen, then I woke up. It was all a dream. Too bad…

"That's too detailed for a dream. Don't you think it really happened?" Keima asked his mother in an indifferent tone, lifting his face up to face hers.

"My, Keima! How long have you been listening to my story?" Mari said as she closed her eyes and held her cheek in slight embarrassment.

"The entire time." Keima replied while fixing his glasses.

"So, that's how it is. I have to act more carefully now that Elsie's curse has taken effect. Who knows what I'd do next?!" he added in a monologue in his head.

"W-well, my dream may have too many information, but there's no way you'd act like that, Keima! Although I wish of it, it just won't happen." Mari sighs in addition.

She stands up and fixes her clothes. At that moment, she noticed something.

"Arre? These clothes are…"

"What is it, Okaa-sama?"

"These are the exact clothes I wore in my dream, and when I think of it, you two are wearing the exact same clothes in my dream!"

"Elsie wears the same clothes every single day. I wonder if she'll ever get another set of clothes to wear. But the clothes everyone is wearing now might just be a coincidence…"

"Nii-sama, I don't get you. Are you with or against Okaa-sama's dream being real?"

"I'm just finding the truth in all this…"

No one uttered a word for a while. In seconds, Keima broke the silence.

"Then, where are the souvenirs?"

"Eh?" the two girls reacted.

"In your dream, Tou-san[3] bought souvenirs. If it's not a dream, you'd have them with you."

"I must have left them somewhere…"

Mari proceeded to the entrance door.

"Okaa-sama, where are you going?"

"It must be here somewhere. I'll have to retrace my steps."

Following the small path she took inside the house, Mari arrived to the entrance of the café. She went outside, glancing at all directions. Her line of sight turns to her bottom-left. She spots a paper bag. She quickly goes over its contents, and lo. She finds the goods her husband gave for souvenirs.

"So… it wasn't a dream…?"

Keima and Elsie arrive at the scene.

"Huh… I never noticed these when you arrived…"

"Keimaa!~ You've changed for the better! My, you took me by surprise there earlier… I wish I can come home like this everyday!"

Mari hugged Keima very tightly. Failing to break free from his mother's killer grip, Keima submitted himself to the hug, which eventually loosens. Mari shows the bag she held and handed it to her son.

"Well, Keima, here you go! Souvenirs from Papa!"

Elsie intently stared at Keima as he received the gift. Noticing her, Mari assures.

"Don't worry, El-chan. Papa didn't forget about you…"

With a little giggle, she adds.

"Of course, Papa cannot forget about you…"

Elsie forces a smile, remembering the method she used to establish herself as Keima's little sister.

"Well, then, let's go back inside again, Okaa-sama, Nii-sama…"

Elsie successfully avoids the awkward situation, and the three take a seat in one of the seats in the café. Keima set the bag on the table and indifferently stared at it.

"Uuu~ Nii-sama! Hurry up and check what's inside the bag!" Elsie eagerly bugged Keima.

Without any words exchanged, he slowly opened the bag.

"Uwaaaaaaaa~~ It's… it's…!"

The devil shook in both awe and excitement as Keima unveils the contents.

"Tada! They're things Papa knows you really like!"

Keima fully took out a white box with a picture of a large, bright red firetruck.

"Uwaaaaaaaa~ A firetruck! Sugeeeeeh!~[4] It's bright red! And this firetruck doesn't look like any one Maijima or Narusawa City has! This is great!"

Elsie's eyes widened. She became even more restless with excitement.

"El-chan, you really love firetrucks, don't you…? But unfortunately, this isn't for you! Keima!"

As Mari nodded at Keima in a signal-like manner, Keima nods in reply, stands, and, with the box in his hands, walks to the barista's stall. Elsie's fixated gaze on the firetruck never faltered but instead grew teary-eyed, seeing it taken away from her. Like a puppy waiting for a treat after seeing it but wasn't given to him.

"Hauuuu~"

All she can do was cry out sounds of disappointment.

"Another unlikely decoration to the café. Tou-san could have thought of something better…" Keima voiced out.

He places it at a high shelf. Now, all that Elsie can do is sadly bask in awe of the box with a firetruck picture in it.

"Uuu~ Okaa-sama~, that wasn't for me?" Elsie cried, upset as she was sure that that box was for her.

Mari laughed, seemingly having fun with the situation.

"Ahaha… El-chan, I know you really love firetrucks, but that's for the shop."

Mari pats her stepdaughter in the head. Consoling her, she whispered.

"And since you're part of the shop, it's also yours…"

"R…really?"

"Yes…"

Keima sighed and unboxed the firetruck.

"Poor Elsie, doesn't know she's being tricked…"

"Nii-sama…?"

Keima slightly snickered.

"You couldn't tell a joke's on even if it hit you with your broom. If I sold you a fake copy of a galge, you'd buy it at full price without checking it!"

"Nii-sama, I don't buy games…"

"That's not the point. What I'm trying to say is that you can't tell jokes from the real thing…" Keima made his point.

He carried the firetruck on its bottom and walked to Elsie.

"Here. Kaa-san was just messing with you."

Elsie's eyes brighten, gazing at one of her favorite things on Earth, and a unique one at that. She looked at Keima briefly and then at the firetruck. Without anymore hesitation, she took the firetruck.

"Wow… Firetruck~~"

Elsie is now travelling a world of her own. Keima checks the remaining contents of the bag of souvenirs. There was a white box of the same size as the firetruck box. He took it out and revealed it as a plain box. He opens it, and a bright light flashed before his eyes. From its instantaneous luminance, it disappears and unveiled a figurine of a familiar heroine.

"What the…"

Keima was surprised. Inside the box was a figuring of, you guessed it, Yotsuba Sugimoto a.k.a Yokkyun. Without anymore hesitation, like Elsie, Keima took the figurine and examined it.

"Limited Edition?" Keima wonders, check the base.

"Huh… This looks great—Wait a minute."

Keima became skeptical about the legitimacy of the figurine.

"The words 'Limited Edition' are written in a different one from the real one. And, oy! The color of her eyes is different! It's _blue_, not green! Her left arm is elevated 15.62˚ lower than in her original pose! Her right hand's pinky is shorter by 2.54 cm! And she's not supposed to be wearing shorts!"

Keima bashed on the figurine whole-heartedly with no holds barred, obviously knowing what he's saying. He depicted a person with authenticity problems.

"And now, under the base!"

Upon inspection, he sees an odd signature hand-painted in white. Keima doesn't recognize it.

"Where did you get this?" he then asks his mother.

"Do you like it, Keima?" she replies.

"It's a figure of one of your favorite game characters! Papa knows you're into these kinds of games and even took time from his busy schedule to make a figure for you! He must've learned lots from Father."

Mari continued describing how her husband made the figurine for Keima as if she didn't hear him criticize it earlier. Keima gave out a silent chuckle and muttered.

"Tou-san must have poor eyesight…"

He then went back to his room, trying to hide a smile on his face. Mari grins upon noticing. A person then enters the café.

"Um… Ano… I'd like some black coffee, please…"

Taken back to reality, Mari taps Elsie repetitively, signaling her that it's time for work. Elsie quickly responds as she puts the firetruck away and wears an apron over her attire.

…

After tending to the sole customer, the day passed by slowly. Business was slow, unusual during a bright summer day. A dull setting loomed over the café, now approaching closing time. The clock struck 5, and this called an early time to close up shop. Mari does all the work with closing up, while Elsie sighs in boredom with her new firetruck on her side, and Keima plays on his PF3 in his room, one of the lone survivors of the calamity caused by a certain devil's broom. A couple of hours later was dinner time. Mari called her children to the dinner table. Elsie was already downstairs, so, like the bored devil she is, she went to the dinner table. On the way there, she catches Keima going downstairs. Her first thoughts were about him not acting normally, just like her thoughts on him during the day.

"The Kami-niisama I know would rather eat in his room than with me and Okaa-sama, or even not eat at all…" she thinks but immediately contradicts the tone of her statement.

"But Nii-sama should stay this way as he is. It's better for him to interact, especially after all these years…"

Elsie reaches the dinner table, with Keima paces behind her. She looks back at her buddy and notices him in deep thought, surprisingly for her, no PFP in hand. Keima looks up and sees Elsie staring at him.

"What are you staring at? Not used to seeing me during dinner even though I take dinner here?" he asks the skeptical devil in a monotonous manner.

"Nii-sama doesn't respond on Okaa-sama's first call. I just found that weird now, and you don't even have your games with you…"

"I connected my spare PFPs to the PF3 in hope I can retrieve my saved data in case your stupidity totals one of my remaining consoles."

"Ah…I'm… sorry once again, Nii-sama."

Keima gave a short chuckle and sat down in front of the dinner table. Elsie sat on his left side. Mari sets the food on the table. The main dish was mixed seafood, while on each person's plate was beef curry.

"Ittadakimasu![5]" declared the three diners, each in a tone different from another.

Elsie ate slowly, enjoying the delicious food, and successively praised Mari on the dish. Keima, on the other hand, though he ate at the same pace as Elsie, was more reserved. He payed no attention to anything but eating. Mari took a break after each spoonful, thanking Elsie for the compliment and thinking of starting a conversation. After three bites, Mari broke the ice.

"Nee, El-chan. This school year marks your first college year, and so does Keima's. How did applications go?"

"I did all that I have to in applying for colleges, Okaa-sama!"

"Good job, El-chan! What about you, Keima?"

"I don't need to go to col—"

"Um, I filled in Nii-sama's applications along with mine…"

"What!?"

"But the only one that accepted both Nii-sama's and mine was Maijima University, so…"

"Hold on, Elsie… I don't think college applications go that way… And, wait, there's no such thing as Maijima University!"

"Yes, there is… Near Tenri-san's school…"

"Have you even been there?"

"Um…"

Elsie grows silent from the tone Keima took in asking his question.

"Keima, stop it! Be thankful that your little sister took care of everything for you. You're _going_ to Maijima University. I've been there. It is near Misato East. That's near the place where I get Holy Crystal. Ahhh… now I wonder where Yuuki will find the third crystal…" Mari defends Elsie, accidentally straying off-topic.

Silence takes over once again, and Mari finds herself in the same scene, having to break the ice, now having to break the tension from the topic she chose.

"Uuhh… Well, have you chosen any courses, El-chan?"

"W-well, Okaa-sama, I thought of two things…"

Keima sips water in the background. Elsie continues.

"First one would be something called… eto… I think it was called Sanitation Management, or something?"

Keima does an epic spit take. In a quick recovery, he reacts.

"What!? You're going for the janitor route again on your re-run? Why are you even going to college again?"

"Keima, quiet down!" Mari scolds Keima.

"Second one would be something for cooking. It was a kind of art… Culinary Arts, I think? I'm still not sure what to pick: something I'm good at or something I should learn to impress Nii-sama…"

"Good luck with that, El-chan. Then, what about Keima?"

"For Nii-sama, I chose the same courses as mine!" Elsie cheerfully declared.

Keima, who continued his meal, choked on hearing Elsie's rash decision. He coughed hoarsely, his hands tending to his neck. He pounds his chest twice then reaches for his glass, only to find it empty. In response, Elsie reaches out her glass of water. Keima sloppily gulped the drink, removing the foreign obstruction. He strokes his neck once more, now feeling the choker. This purple magic choker shaped like a doughnut has been on him for quite a long time now. Around two years, to be exact. Elsie shares the same collar. As he feels the collar even more, for the first time in years, Keima wonders.

"Hey, the collars still on me… I've just noticed… Haven't I completed the mission when all the loose souls have been captured and Vintage is but history. To think, I also went back in time, but I'm still bound by contract?"

"What are you talking about, Keima?" Mari wonders as his son talks about what she seems to be nonsense.

Keima now turns to Elsie; the topic now veers to an old discussion.

"Now that I mention it, why the hell is this thing still on me!? Didn't I do everything your employer want me to do? In fact, along with you going for college, there's no more reason for you to be here! Why are you still staying here?" Keima questions with a hint of frustration.

"Keima, calm down! I don't know what you're saying, but that's not the way to talk to your little sister!" Mari reacts.

Feeling frightened, Elsie takes in tears from slight distraught.

"Huuu… I know that, Nii-sama. I just didn't want to notice. The squad isn't doing anything about that, I know… But I don't see that as a problem… Actually, I like it this way… That's because…"

The presence of fear disappeared from Elsie, and a different aura dwelled her and around the dinner table. Elsie looks at Keima with earnest eyes and continues, blushing.

"… because I want to be with Nii-sama forever…"

"Eh…?"

Keima and Mari drop their chopsticks at that instant. Both were stunned by the sudden line Elsie said. Keima stared Elsie with skepticism, his jaws slightly dropped.

"W-w… wow, El-chan…" Mari awkwardly commented, not knowing the correct words to respond to a supposedly normal line said between siblings.

"W… what did you just say…?" Keima followed up the awkwardness.

Then and there, Elsie realized that she seemingly said unnecessary, but she didn't pay much attention. Even if it seemed that way, she attempted to explain her previous statement.

"W… well, I like this way of life with you, Nii-sama, Okaa-sama. I got to clean as much as when I was working as a custodian for my school and do more fun things than just cleaning. I got to cook for Nii-sama, serve the café, play the bass for my band, lots of things… I wonder what would my life be if I wasn't put in the Runaway Spirit Squad… That's why I want to be with Nii-sama… with everyone I love… forever…"

Elsie then turns away with her head up high and her cheeks puffed. She continues in a stereotype _tsundere_[6] tone.

"Hmph. But if Nii-sama doesn't want so, I'll just tell Chief to do something about it…"

"Wait, isn't the Chief…"

Elsie takes the skullpiece from her hair and presses the button on its eye. But nothing happened.

"Eh? What's wrong with this? Why is it not working? I just got a message a while ago." Elsie wonders.

"Maybe it's run out of batteries." Mari replies.

"No, Okaa-sama. This doesn't work that way…"

"Well, I don't know anything about those things, but one thing's for sure." Mari says as she removes her glasses.

"We're still in the middle of dinner, so food before anything else…" she adds with an eerie smile.

Elsie quickly complies, remembering how strict her stepmother is when it comes to food.

"Thank you for the meal."

Keima finished his meal in the background. He cleaned up after himself and went back to his room. The girls finished silently, and the day of the Katsuragis ended.

In the dead of the night, we find the members of the household in their respective rooms. Mari and Elsie are sleeping soundly while Keima was still awake, tending to the figurine his father made him. A PFP was next to him, playing a slow tune fitting for the night. This gamer, instead of spending the night in his world of games, chose to spend the night traveling his mind, into a world of deep thought.

"The more and more I think about it, I don't think hard in times like this when there are no problems. This may still be an effect of Elsie's curse. I wonder if I'll revert back to normal… But do I really want that? No matter how I act, I always end up putting other people into harm's way. If I interact with the real, they act so unnecessarily. If I stop talking with the real, they try to bring me back. It's ridiculous…"

The music stopped. The silence of the night becomes one with Keima's thoughts. He continues with another topic.

"It's been two years ever since that chain of events. Thinking about it, aside from the bothers of some people and non-humans, my life, if not me, can return to normal… But before such, I have to get new equipment and a new copy of One Leaf… Oh, Yokkyun, wait for me once more…"

At that, Keima finds himself asleep. The evening passed, and the morning came. It is now a new day.

As always, Elsie is up early in the morning, doing the cleaning and the cooking.

"My, El-chan. Early as always." Mari enters the kitchen.

She pets Elsie, who was cooking breakfast.

"Now, I'm sure that I can leave the café in your capable hands, El-chan."

Elsie giggles, feeling praised.

"I can even leave Keima up to you! Be nice to him always, okay?"

"Eh?"

"You confessed to him, didn't you? Saying you wanna be with him forever? You may be siblings by Papa, but love between you two is okay for me. It's like this manga I read. But take care of Keima, okay? Don't do anything stupid to him!" Mari tells Elsie teasingly.

"A-a-a… I didn't confess! That wasn't a confession!" Elsie iterated.

"I know… I know…"

Mari opens the refrigerator and takes out the chiller drawer. It contained just a few vegetables: two leeks, cabbage, and a large potato. She closes the drawer and fridge, then makes a request to Elsie.

"Um, El-chan, could you go shopping for vegetables? Looks like we've run out of carrots."

"Don't worry, Okaa-sama. I was planning to go shopping for flour and coffee, anyway. Just give me a list of what to buy, and I'll get them on the way." Elsie tells Mari.

"Thank you, El-chan, for always working hard."

"It's the least I can do for you, Okaa-sama."

They shared a smile, and Elsie waved goodbye. Onwards to the shopping district. Elsie whistled a song of her favorite song of a certain idol as she walked cheerful to where she's headed. Before getting far, a top-down pink car passed by her as slow as a turtle. In the driver's seat was a girl sporting a karate get-up, and sitting next to her was a girl who dressed gallantly.

"Ane-ue[7], why do I have to drive your car?" the driver asked.

"Hey, you don't complain about work in the dojo. Why start now when I'm helping you get to places faster?" the passenger replied.

The car, which was traveling around 1 kph, suddenly sped up, startling the two riders and Elsie. It was like the driver never learned to drive as the car suddenly stops and goes, and she took her time turning left. Elsie then moved on, whistling the same tune. Some time later, Elsie reaches Maijima Wai Wai Road. This familiar road reminds Elsie of seeing one of Keima's conquests in fruition. It's been long since those times.

"I still wonder why it's called the Wai Wai Road." Elsie thinks.

She stops walking and checks the list Mari gave her before she left. After a quick scan, she looks around the area. There were stores all around the vicinity. To the other side of the sidewalk she is in, she notices a petite blonde girl in a green apron opening up a bakery as a girl in a Cheongsam[8] passed by her while carrying two huge cooking pots. In front of Elsie was a huge LCD TV mounted on a tall building, displaying an advertisement of a raincoat sponsored by a pink-haired idol. Elsie took a moment to watch it, for she was a fan of that idol. The ad had already ended a few seconds after seeing it. She sighs, then diverts her attention to the store beside her. It was a fast food restaurant, opened quite early. She sees the people inside. It was like a "girls' morning out" if you put it in a term. In the far corner table was a girl with orange frizzy hair playing shogi[9] with another girl sporting a huge pink ribbon. The other tables were occupied by girls who simply enjoyed their morning by eating their breakfast meals and doing things they like. A girl with a doll-like complexion and a girl with short, straight black hair with small ribbons on each side were reading a book about the moon together. A young woman in her twenties was playing a fighting game in her PFP, sipping her cup of coffee after each round. A young girl with hair like a bird's nest was ordering her meal happily. Everyone inside really looked like they were enjoying themselves, making Elsie a bit jealous of them, but Elsie simply looks away and focuses on the task at hand. She moves on. When Elsie reached the corner of the street, she bumps into more familiar faces, but these are faces that know her as well as she knows them.

"Oh, Elle. It's been a while. Ohayoo." a girl wearing a headband greeted Elsie.

"Ah, Ayumi-san! Chihiro-san! Yui-san! Ohayoo!" Elsie replied.

They were Elsie's bandmates from the 2-B Pencils: Ayumi, the one who greeted her, Chihiro, a "normal" girl about the same height as Ayumi, and Yui, a tomboy, bluntly put.

"Umm… Where's Miyako-san?" Elsie asks, noticing that the gang was one member short.

"I think she's still asleep. No answer from my calls." Chihiro answered, progressively bringing out her cellphone.

"Elsie, you're going shopping?" Yui then asks Elsie, noticing the basket she's holding.

Elsie simply nods cheerfully with a smile on her face.

"Ah, we're headed to a store near the market! C'mon, Elle! Let's walk together." Ayumi matches Elsie's cheerful energy and invites her.

"Sure!"

And so, the 2-B Pencils, Miyako aside, crossed the street heading to the market and happily exchanged stories as they walked. Their discussion was a potpourri of stories from their last year in high school to summer events. The four girls enjoyed the talk, and currently, the topic isn't far from the previous ones, though much more aimed at the future.

"So, guys, what college are you going to?"

That was Elsie who started the topic.

"Eh?" Ayumi reacts to the question.

"Ah… er… well, I've been offered a scholarship from Maijima University, so I guess I'll go there…"

"Wow! Ayumi-san is that good in track and field, huh?"

"No doubt about it!" Ayumi snickered.

"I passed only Maijima University, so I'll be going there, too." Chihiro answered.

"Ah. Now, I see. Since everyone's gonna be there, I guess I'll go to Maijima University, too." Yui decides.

"Sounds nice… Now, I'll be looking forward to the school year more than ever!" Elsie says after hearing the responses.

Now the girls reach another intersection. Across that, Elsie sees a poster of the same idol in the same ad posted outside a café.

"Did you guys see Kanon-chan's new umbrella ad? She's so cool!" Elsie starts a new topic, reminded of the ad she only got a glimpse on.

"You really like Kanon-chan. Don't you, Elle? Only devoted fans like you would be talking about the idol doing the ad instead of the ad itself." Ayumi makes a remark.

"Hahaha. She sure is." Chihiro agrees with Ayumi.

She adds.

"I've seen it… Speaking of Kanon-chan, I watched a replay of a game show yesterday. I didn't know Kanon-chan did comedy."

"Game show? Comedy? Did she join a manzai[10] contest or something?" Yui says, somewhat puzzled.

"No. It was just your average quiz show. One about Kanji. I know Kanji is hard, but I never knew Kanon-chan found it _that_ hard. I don't even know if she drew a face, even a firetruck, on purpose! Whatever the reason, it was hilarious! Seen it, Elly? The original run was two years ago. Maybe it rings a bell?" Chihiro replies and directs question to Elsie.

"Y-yeah…"

Elsie then gives out an awkward laugh, remembering doing such a thing during her time as the idol's double.

"Chihiro, that's not comedy… Talk to me about comedy when you've seen comedians in the late night Saturday shows in NTV." Ayumi argues.

"Comedy…" says Elsie, trying to think of something else unrelated to the idol.

"Nii-sama did comedy with Tenri-san once. They beat a group called C-Dash! They're really something!

Elsie's tone was proud and she did a thumbs-up upon completing the sentence.

"C-Dash… I've never heard of them." Chihiro says in an uncharacteristically sad tone.

"But seriously. Katsuragi. Doing comedy? With Tenri? A host to Mel's sister? Comedy doesn't fit Katsuragi one bit!" Ayumi reacts.

"No way, Ayumi! Keima-kun fits the role! He's pretty funny especially how he reacts to everything. He's funny like that, and it makes him cuter than ever! Mars even agrees with me. Because of that, I love him even more!" Yui boldly declares.

This causes a subtle stir within the group, surprised by Yui's statement. Chihiro became silent as the rest blushed. Elsie, Ayumi, and Yui looked at each other and simply laughed it off.

"You guys…" Chihiro said behind them in the same tone of gloom as before.

"Mel… Mars… Love…?"

Her voice weakens, but the sadness was still present.

"Katsuragi… That cockroach… How did it get here?"

Now her face grows red, and her body weakens along with her voice.

"Don't you guys… know…?"

She pauses. She then puts a hand over her head, gripping it hard.

"Wounds may heal… But the scars… The scars… They're still there…"

Chihiro collapses on the concrete sidewalk. The three girls react quickly and support their fallen friend.

"Chihiro-san! Chihiro-san! Get up!" Elsie cries out, startled by the flow of events.

"What happened to her!?"

This preoccupied the thoughts of the three girls, but within themselves, they don't know the answer. All they can do is remedy the situation.

"We have to get her lied down somewhere comfortable." Yui tells the other two.

The girls look around the area for a bench, row of chairs, or any flat surface aside from the sidewalk Chihiro's currently lying on. A few seconds later, Ayumi realizes something, staring at the distance.

"Hey, I know that store! That's the store across Miyako's house. Which means…"

Ayumi looks behind her. The sign "Terada Dry Cleaning" beamed above her. She then knocks on the side door, the entrance to Miyako's house.

"Miyako! Miyako! Please open the door!" Ayumi calls out.

The door opens. A girl of the same stature as her with long black hair greeted her in her pajamas.

"Ah, Ayumi. Ohayoo. What's wrong?" the girl politely asks.

"Ah, Miyako. Thank goodness. Chihiro suddenly fainted while we were walking. It's a good thing that your place was nearby, so…"

"Say no more. Where is she?"

"Over here."

Ayumi then turns back and calls the two.

"Okay, guys. Bring her in."

Elsie and Yui carry to Chihiro into Miyako's house, both of them supporting Chihiro by the limbs.

"Sorry for the intrusion." Elsie and Yui say upon entering.

They set Chihiro upon a sofa. Elsie grabs a pillow and puts it under Chihiro's head. Ayumi and Miyako enter the room. They discuss the current situation.

"Why did Chihiro-san suddenly faint?" Elsie starts it off.

"How could we know that?" Yui answers as she fans Chihiro.

"Maybe she just wasn't feeling good from the start." Miyako says unsurely.

"That can't be." Ayumi denies Miyako's statement.

"She was so energetic when we were doing early window shopping. It must be because of something else."

Ayumi takes a glimpse of Elsie, staring at her and listening intently.

"W-well… whatever the reason is, I hope Chihiro-san is okay…" Elsie simply says.

The room fell into silence. Aside from Yui who fanned Chihiro, everyone quietly sat there staring into space, wondering what happened to their friend, will she be okay, will she wake up soon…

_Chihiro might be unconscious, but her mind is moving as freely as a bird in the sky. She was in a dream wherein anything can and will happen. She joyfully grinned, enjoying life when suddenly, her whole subconscious dissolves into black. Then, a static discharge takes place. She sees nothing but black and white static everywhere. Then, the static fades out slowly, and a picture of a boy appears before her. Fair, clean face. Brown, short hair somewhat like hers. Shining eyes, but in front of those eyes, a pair of glasses. Something she thinks that takes him away from the real and into a world of his own. But even so, she grew to like him. To idolize him. To love him. But what would an eccentric guy like him see in a normal girl like her? Nothing, right? She's even been rejected by him. Her best friend was chosen instead of her. But that was just for something else, right? Something like restoring a "goddess' power" inside her best friend through love? She may have had another chance, but she was reassured of rejection when she asked that boy once more. The memory of her first love, gone in the wind. The introvert she calls "Otamegane"_[11]_ or even "cockroach". Keima Katsuragi. The epic gamer. He was her first love…_

_But the story doesn't stop there. A flash of light, and extra information enters Chihiro's memories. She _is _aware of the days she made random mass confessions to boys around the school. All have been complete utter failures, until one boy decided to help her with those confessions. She was even criticized by the boy that she doesn't know anything about love and that people like her rot the real. Even though she threw the description right back at him, which was truly a direct hit to his pride, he decided to help her. He used his mass knowledge about a related topic and applied it to a senior named Yuuta, giving a positive result. He worked day and night for the most foolproof plan for a successful confession, provided he's a guy, but the girl paid little to no attention to his efforts and eventually gave up the confession altogether. He snaps at her, saying she's never serious, but inside herself, she knows that even if she was serious, nothing would happen. She runs away from him, thinking how being normal bugs her more than anything. All she wanted to do was to shine. Some minutes later, the boy never returned, and she then had an epiphany moment, thinking that she must boost her self-confidence in order to shine in her own right. That's how she remembers this event. It's clear and concise, but the addition of information clears something out for her…_

_Instead of the last event happening in that vague manner, the boy chased after her but she drove him away as the rain starts to pour heavily. But all of a sudden, the boy took the offensive. A passionate kiss in the middle of the rain… As they shared a kiss, the rain stopped. The sun shone around them. Luminous rays of light highlighted the boy. Words of inspiration echoed all throughout her head. __**"You can shine. Whenever you lose faith, I will come and save you."**__ She'll never forget what the boy said. Rather, she couldn't ever because this changed her life for the better. But who is that boy? Why can she now remember what he said, but not he himself? And then, another flash of white light. It flickers twice, and the same scene repeats itself, with all the proper information put into place. Now, she remembers everything. She understands and is puzzled at the same time. The boy who rots the real. The boy who gave her inspiration to shine…_

_Is that boy who lives in his own worlds of games. That boy who's the elder brother of her band's bassist. That boy…_

_Whom she loved… The boy who rejected her for her best friend. The boy who never cared about the real. About her… Yes, to her astonishment, the boy was Keima Katsuragi, her first love. The memory of that first love, gone with the wind? Didn't it have a beginning? A time when he loved her back? So, all the time he spent for her… Was it for nothing? He cared for her genuinely, and then months later, he rejects her, knowing that she and he share the same feelings? This occupied her as she tries to organize the events inside her head. The flow of events would confuse anyone. In a sense, how would you feel if someone confessed their love for you, you accepted it, but some time later, that person not only doesn't make a move to officially start your relationship but also forgets about you and what you've been through with that person and then rejects you?_

Now that Chihiro remembers everything, the sorrow she felt grew even more. She seemed to have moved on, but now she remembers everything, she turns back at what could have been. Or what _has_ been. With all her emotions, she cried a flood of tears inside her head. Nothing can compare to the depressing feeling enveloping her. She just cried and cried to let all these emotions flow, hoping it would dissipate. The sadness was just too strong, because back in reality, her body reacts in the same way. Yui takes notice. So do the three other girls in the room with the fainted Chihiro. As Chihiro cried inside, tears come streaming down her face. Just like her love, the tears would never stop and even if she already said goodbye to the one she loves, her feelings are truly genuine.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Finally! What's up, guys? P3r50n5_UnKnWn here for the NOHK! Back after two grueling months of multi-tasking school works, the otaku life, and creating this fanfic! Yeah! You don't know how accomplished I felt on the Tuesday I wrapped this Chapter 2 up! It's such an accomplishing feeling to finish something you loved! I revised/proofread my first two chapters, this one excluded, and wow, could I make mistakes or what? I need someone to tell them to my sometime. I made lotsa improvisations, because the ones I wrote in my Religion notebook didn't fit much as I rewrote and encode. I thought I'd finish this before Megami-hen ends, but by the time I finish writing my last sentence, about 12 chapters of the manga were released, and the ending of S3 was reached. :( Sad… 32 full pages on that same Religion notebook I said last time, and boy, am I loving everything about the main series and this one or what?

First thoughts upon writing Chapter 2 and editing the other chapters:

My storyline as reaaaaaaaallly gone screwball… Damn. How do I fix this…?

Here is my first case of mishandling characters while taking care of the specs too much. I also noticed how most of the text is about play-by-play movements of characters… I just can't help myself. I don't know if I can change this into a more legit chapter, but please, it's hard work. XD

And now I find myself confused on which Keima I'd like to portray: the old one or the one undergoing character development… Since two years have passed, I gots no other choice. Failing to stick to the canon means I have not read enough material, or any material at all to get the drama right. Man. This thing's serious… :O

Most of Keima's arguments are easily contradicted, now that I rethink about it as I encode this entire thing… Oh, man… The excuse of Elsie's curse doesn't make it any legit…

I kinda made Mari an otaku… It _is_ true that she likes manga… But… Yeah… I'll leave it at that.

Now, there is only but one main heroine(?) who hasn't made her appearance in this series. Major's been bugging about doing a fanfic of her. Props if you guess her identity right. A virtual cookie, perhaps? XD

I _am_ a guy about to enter college, so this whole "college" thing is more than uncharted waters to me, and to add to that, I don't know if it works the same way as in Japan… Oh, well. XD

Faint Count: 4. Do I really want to make characters faint like that, considering I haven't experienced a full faint? (I was half-conscious during a certain point in time, so it doesn't count. XD)

Due to some mishaps, I'm slightly forced to put this on-hold until the trimester or school year ends, considering the school year in my country starts at June. That's due to grade issues… A smart kid? Grade issues? And this brings me to my second topic.

Now I know why it's a good thing to put footnotes about Japanese terms. It's because I unintentionally received readers who don't even _know_ the series. Those are my relatives who saw my epic Facebook post on the link of H.P.O. Wow. They read it, and I got reviews like the one you guys gave me. XD Now, my mom is really, really, _really _concerned about this going a priority above studies, so… Smart kid, grade issues, a conclusion that this is the cause. Can't blame her. I hope to release a new chapter before the school year ends, though. As a preview… Back to New Hell we go! Footnote time!

[1]: Kaa-san: A somewhat informal way to address one's mother. Elsie uses a variant that denotes much more respect to Mari.

[2]: Ohayoo: "Good morning!" in Japanese…

[3]: Tou-san: A somewhat informal way to address one's father. At least, I think it's spelt in Romanji that way… XD

[4]: Sugeh: "sugoi" (the "h" was just for some speech effect, so if one reads it, he doesn't read it like "cube" or "huge") means "amazing" in Japanese. Did I use the right adjective…? I think so…

[5]: Ittadakimasu: Japanese phrase meaning "time to dig in" or "time to eat", or something like that. XD

[6]: Tsundere: A type of female character that shows a scent of outward hate for a person of her interest, but inside, she really, really, really, _really_ loves him. Y'know, the more you hate, the more you love? Something like that.

[7]: Ane-ue: An ancient way of calling your elder sister… The only characters I know who use this are the character I used this on and Hideyoshi Kinoshita. Trivia FTW, but seriously, there are lotsa character who still use this ancient way of calling your elder sister, especially if the series is set in ancient times.

[8]: Cheongsam: A China dress…

[9]: Shogi: Japanese chess…

[10]: Manzai: A form of Japanese comedy…

[11]: Otamegane: As synopses say, it is a portmanteau of the words "otaku" and "megane" or "glasses". People who know the series of course know at least _this_, but because of reasons stated above, there you go.

I still feel like an idiot writing these footnotes. Well, 'til next time! If you read this through the end, good for you, and thank you for sticking around! XD


End file.
